Monkeys can seem so human; their youngsters even more so. On the other hand, young humans can seem so much like monkeys, especially when they happen to be small boys (I've just returned from an overnight trip in the Ruahine with a friend and his three young boys. Quite an education).I photographed this baby langur at Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan in 2007.
[Note: The camera has been repaired and returned. Normal service will now resume.]
[From a comment by The Watercats: "...I'll never forget visiting a zoo when my kid was about three months old, I had her in a sling thing and gazed into a pit at a female orangutan with a baby, who she was covering with a blanket. She kept glaring up at me and then must have seen the kid, she suddenly turned round and pulled the blanket off her baby to show me, looking me straight in the eye. I showed her my baby in return and she studied her face....I was blown away, to me it was an obvious exchange of knowledge, the wisdom that is motherhood that is shared between our species... I spent the rest of the day in tears and I still cry when I think of it now.. these souls deserve so much better!"]
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor
This is why the creationists/ID folks confuse me. Pretty obvious we are cousins to the apes.
ReplyDeleteI've been enjoying the reserve photos.
wow.. excellent photo! Monkeys and apes have a whole other thing going on than most other animals, I'll never forget visiting a zoo when my kid was about three months old, I had her in a sling thing and gazed into a pit at a female orangutan with a baby, who she was covering with a blanket. She kept glaring up at me and then must have seen the kid, she suddenly turned round and pulled the blanket off her baby to show me, looking me straight in the eye. I showed her my baby in return and she studied her face....I was blown away, to me it was an obvious exchange of knowledge, the wisdom that is motherhood that is shared between our species... I spent the rest of the day in tears and I still cry when I think of it now.. these souls deserve so much better!....
ReplyDeleteWatercats' story is so moving. It goes so well this youngster's face. I can't imagine how someone can look into those eyes and not sense our connectedness. It's like denying their own connection to other humans. Oh wait, they do that too. A stunningly evocative photo.
ReplyDeleteZhoen, thanks. The camera came back from Canon's service centre on Thursday and they'd noted the shutter count: just under 27,000. So, I should have plenty of "reserve" photos if needed :^)
ReplyDeleteWatercats, that's a beautiful story — thanks for sharing it. I've added it to the post so others don't miss it.
Robin Andrea, thanks — and check out the next photo when it goes up this evening :^)
cheers pete!.. I feel honoured to have experienced it :-)
ReplyDeleteThe eyebrows make all the difference.
ReplyDeleteWatercats, your welcome. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteMiguel, they're pretty staunch eyebrows, eh?